


Green Light

by MrFrank



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: And Geoff worries, Car Accidents, Gen, are not fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-03
Updated: 2014-04-03
Packaged: 2018-01-18 00:18:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1407964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrFrank/pseuds/MrFrank
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It only takes a moment for your entire day to end up in a ditch, slammed up against a light-pole. Whisked away to the hospital, Geoff waits and worries and bothers everyone who makes the mistake of listening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Green Light

**Author's Note:**

> I saw another (brilliant) author give this prompt a try and...idk. I also recently lost a family member, which was very sad, but the very kind health professionals I met along the way certainly helped, which also inspired some part of this. Please enjoy!

    “That’s fucking _stupid_ , Gavin.”

    “Is not!” Gavin cried. “I thought he was really good in that movie.”

    “A golden retriever could have played that role with more emotion than he did,” Ray argued from the back seat, Michael nodding vigorously along with him.

    “He was total shit in that movie, and you know it.”

    “I do not know that,” Gavin snapped, crossing his arms across his chest.

    “Would you like to switch seats with me?” Ryan asked, frowning first at Gavin in the seat behind him, and then Michael who was peering back from the from passenger seat of the van. “Look, we’re even at a red light. It’ll make it easy.” He took off his seatbelt, motioning for Michael to clamber into the middle seat.

    “Oh no you don’t,” Jack said, tugging the curly haired boy back into his seat. “The last thing we need is to kick the driver in the face, _while_ he’s driving.”

    “But you’re not driving, Jack, we’re at a red light.”

    “Gavin, don’t make me come back there.” The others laughed as Jack scowled into the rearview mirror and Gavin made a show of looking grinningly contrite.

    “Say what you want about that guy’s acting,” Geoff said from his seat next to Ryan, the young man’s arm around his shoulders, “but I thought that movie was a perfect Sunday movie, and I liked it.”

    “Jack, green light, green light!” Gavin cried from the back.

    “I see it, Gavin,” Jack said, eyes rolling as they started forward.

    “Yeah, I know what you mean,” Ryan was saying to Geoff, “the pacing was—”

    Was something Geoff wouldn’t be finding out, as the world around him exploded with sound and suddenly his whole body was spinning wildly out of control. Squealing tires and shattering glass and his boyfriends’ screams tore through the air, everything chaos and blurring colors as they spun and spun and spun. Geoff’s body tried to hurl itself away from the merry-go-round their van had become, but his seatbelt had locked up and was digging painfully into his torso, like it might just cut him right in half. Something bulky slammed into him, sending his senses whirling, before falling away again.

    With a magnificent _SLAM_ , everything went still again. Geoff’s body felt like it was still spinning, and he felt himself swaying with the feeling. Something metal groaned and creaked, and somewhere more glass broke. The ringing in his ears was deafening.

    “Jack?” he said, or thought he said, he couldn’t even hear himself over the ringing. “Ray? M-Michael?” The car shifted suddenly, and the ringing got louder. Lights flashed and popped at the edge of his vision. He noticed for the first time something warm and heavy pressed against him. It took more energy than he thought it should have to loll his head to the side and investigate.

    “Ryan,” he tried to say. The younger man was pushed up against him, the inside of their van apparently having reached the conclusion that it needed to come to them. His head lay back over the seat, eyes half open and skin pale. Geoff couldn’t tell if the man was breathing or not.

    The screech of metal on metal drew Geoff’s attention back the other way in time to see his van’s side door slam open. The sunlight that poured in the new opening framed a man in a bulky coat. He was carrying what looked suspiciously like bolt cutters. By the looks of it he turned and shouted something reached in towards the tattooed man.

    _Not me_ , Geoff wanted to shout as the man simply cut him out of his seatbelt and leaned over him, _Help Ryan, help the others. Not me._ The man seemed oblivious to Geoff’s silent pleas as he leaned close and asked,

    “Are you hurt?” He was barely audible over all the ringing, but he seemed to be aware of noise somehow because he was shouting even though he was only a foot from Geoff’s face.

    “I don’t think so,” Geoff said. He turned sluggishly to Ryan, but his rescuer seemed to understand what he meant without making him ask.

    “We have to move you before we can get him out. The other door’s just too badly damaged. Do you think you can move with just my help, or do I need to get someone else?”

    “Just you,” Geoff said. The man nodded once, then moved to Geoff’s side. He slipped Geoff’s arm over his neck and slid his own arm under Geoff’s back and held him tight. His grip was firm and confident, reassuring.

    “Ready?”

    Geoff nodded.

    “Okay. I’m going to move your legs first, okay? On three…two…one.” Using his free hand, the man swung Geoff’s legs towards the open door before lifting him from the van in a single motion. Geoff groaned, squinting against the sun as he was half carried, half dragged away from his mangled car and towards the grassy side of the road. “Stay here,” the rescuer said as he helped Geoff down into the grass. “A paramedic will be right over to check on you.”

    And then the rescuer was gone and all of a sudden Geoff was alone, sitting in the grass at the side of the road trying to figure out what the hell had even happened. He twisted in the grass, turning his head to follow the man who’d left him here to figure out where he was going.

    A strangled gasp escaped him at what he saw.

    His van, or what had once been his van, looked less like a large while van and more like a large crumpled piece of paper. It had come to a rest face-first against a telephone pole, and was in the process of having another of its doors removed as two men with what looked like the most industrial bolt cutters you’d ever seen tried to pry their way through the driver’s side door. Geoff’s rescuer was already at the side of the battered car, following another man back into the vehicle, while two other men worked at getting into the van through the trunk.

    Outside of the van the ringing in Geoff’s ears materialized into sirens which, thankfully, were being slowly silenced. The flashing lights he’d thought were in his own mind were actually coming from a trio of ambulances, as well as what looked like a bus painted to look like an ambulance. Geoff spotted someone in a blue uniform jogging towards him from one of the ambulances. A moment later and a young blonde’s face appeared over his own.

    “Hello there,” the woman said as she settled next to Geoff, “My name is Brittany. I’m an EMT and I’m here to make sure you’re alright. Can you tell me your name?”

    “Geoff,” he mumbled.

    “It’s nice to meet you, Geoff,” Brittany said, blue-gloved hands coming up to frame his face. She pressed gently along the sides of his neck while she asked, “Geoff, are you feeling any pain anywhere? Any numbness?” Geoff went to shake his head no, but Brittany held his head still, still checking his neck.

    “No,” he said. “Just sore.”

    “Sore all over or is it somewhere particular?”

    “All over, I guess.”

    “Kind of like you worked out a little too long?” she asked.

    “Yes.” He wasn’t sure how she managed such an easy flow of conversation. Her hands hadn’t stopped poking and prodding his body since she’d arrived, yet her conversation flow never faltered.

    “Are you feeling dizzy, Geoff? Any nausea or headaches?”

    “I’m a little dizzy,” Geoff said. He wasn’t sure what, but admitting that sent a flare of worry through him.

    “That can be normal in a car crash,” Brittany said, as if anticipating his thoughts. “Can you walk, or is the dizziness too disorientating?”

    “I think…I think I can walk okay,” Geoff mumbled, blinking hard to try and dispel the spinning in his head.

    “Okay, good. Now, you seem to have any broken bones, and you’re not telling me anything alarming and I’m not finding anything alarming, so here’s your options. You can let us take you to the hospital and they can give you a more thorough check to make sure your okay, but you do have the option to refuse hospital treatment. My recommendation,” she continued, before Geoff could ask, “is that you go get double checked.”

     “What about…” Geoff tilted his head, trying to see what was happening by his van.

    “I can guarantee you that whoever is looking after them will be giving them the same ‘you should go’ speech I’m giving you,” Brittany said. “And you’ll be more likely to find them at the hospital if you’re there getting checked out than if you’re stuck in the waiting room.”

    Geoff wasn’t sure if she was telling him this just to get him to go to the hospital, or because it was true. But true or not, it made sense, and at this point he was willing to do whatever it took to see how boys as quickly as possible.

    “Alright,” he sighed. “Let’s go.”

    Geoff allowed the paramedic to lead him over to one of the ambulances just as the paramedics inside it clambered out with the stretcher and hurried away. The woman perched him on the back of the ambulance and a blanket appeared around his shoulders. She moved aside to grab something, and as she did Geoff’s van came back into view and he watched it as she worked. The men had finally gotten the trunk off, and were pulling someone out of the back and onto a stretcher. A flash of warm skin and dark hair identified his youngest lover.

    "Ray!" Geoff gasped. He tried to leap up, ready to go sprinting to the boy's side, but a pair of hands on his shoulders held him down. The woman's small stature hid a surprising strength. "I need to get over there," Geoff snapped, trying to twist out of the woman's grip.

    "You need to sit still," she countered, while looking over her shoulder at what had Geoff suddenly so agitated. Her brow furrowed when she spotted the stretcher. "Get in," she said.

    "What--no! I need to be here, not at a hospital!"

    "Yes, you do need to go to a hospital," the paramedic snapped back. "And your friend over there is being helped by the men from this truck, so if you get in then once they load up your friend you can ride with him to the hospital. I know it's not being there for all your friends, but the alternative is being left here and having to make your own way to the hospital. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

    Geoff nodded. No one could call this girl a bleeding heart, with her strong grip an  no nonsense attitude, but she did seem to know exactly what Geoff wanted an  exactly how to get him as close to it as possible. That was more than good enough for Geoff.

    "Thanks," he mumbled.

    "Mhmm," she replied. "Now get in, they're about to load up your friend." She helped a still dizzy Geoff into the back of the ambulance, shoving him gently towards the small seat meant for the extra passengers, and then sprinted off to join the others as they moved Ray towards the truck. Loading the young man inside was a flurry of rapid, well rehearsed activity. The paramedics called things back and forth as they worked, thing  that Geoff assumed had to do with Ray and whatever condition he was in.

    As soon as it had begun, the activity had slowed. The ambulance doors shut and Geoff was alone with Ray and a single paramedic who stood on the other side of the stretcher. Geoff's breath caught as he got his first good look at his boyfriend.

    The side of Ray's face was covered in blood, the skin beneath it unnaturally pale. A thick piece of gauze had been placed over the place on Ray's head where the blood mostly seemed to be coming from. His neck was secured in the kind of brace Geoff associated with cliché TV ambulances. The paramedic at Ray's side was focused on the young man's shoulder. At some point his sleeve had been cut away, revealing some blood and a lot of bruises.

    "My name's Daniel," the paramedic said, somehow noticing Geoff was staring without actually looking up.  "Is he a friend of yours?" Geoff nodded, reaching hesitantly for Ray's hand. Daniel didn't seem to mind, so Geoff took his lover's hand.

    "His name's Ray."

    "Hello, Ray. Nice to meet you." Ray blinked slowly, staring at the paramedic with overly dilated eyes. "You can talk to him if you want. It might help for him to hear a familiar voice."

    "O-okay." Geoff leaned forward, rubbing circles on the back of Ray's hand with his thumb. "Hey, Ray. You look like shit, did you know that?"

    If it was possible to blink a sarcastic response, Ray was making a good try at it. Geoff smiled.

    "How are you feeling?" Ray hummed something that was likely just as sarcastic, though halfway through it turned into a pained groan. The paramedic, who was applying something to Ray's shoulder, mumbled something reassuring.

    "You're okay," Geoff said, leaning closer. Ray's gaze flicked between him and the paramedic. Geoff could see the panic starting to build there. "Hey, hey," he said, "you're going to be okay. We had a little bit of a fender bender, but nothing we can't deal with." Another kind of panic flashed in Ray's eyes and  Geoff's grip on his hand tightened. "Everyone else is okay," he said, despite the fact that he had no idea what was happening to anyone but the two of them.  "Don't worry. We're almost to the hospital, and they'll get you all fixed up, okay?"

    Ray didn't respond, and when he looked to the paramedic Geoff only received a small, reassuring smile in response. Frowning, Geoff turned back to the young man lying before him. Ray's eyes were still open, but his gaze had become glassy and unfocused, and although Geoff continued to quietly reassure him he didn't receive any more responses from his bruised lover.

    As they closed in on the hospital (how the paramedic could tell, Geoff would never know) Daniel explained that first emergency room doctors and nurses would come collect Ray and then Geoff, and that he might not see Ray for a little while.

    "Let them know you came in with others every chance you get," Daniel said, as if he were letting Geoff in on a little secret. "Most of the staff will give you dismissive answers, because it can be hard to keep track of family members and friends at first. But eventually you'll find someone who knows something."

    "That sounds like the kind of advice that will make me very annoying," Geoff said, skeptical.

    "It will," Daniel assured him. "But it works."

    Geoff wanted to ask more, but at that moment the ambulance doors swung open and the back of the truck was once again a flurry of activity. Geoff gave Ray's hand one last squeeze before the young man was pulled away, taken by a cluster of nurses through a pair of doors into the hospital and quickly out of sight.

    He was so focused on Ray that it was a moment before he noticed the stretcher that had been wheeled up to the ambulance, or the frowning nurse stood beside it. The man had tired eyes and what looked like two day old beard stubble, and he was eyeing Geoff with more than a hint of impatience. Glancing between the wheeled bed and the man standing guard beside it, Geoff shook his head and said,

    "I'll walk."

    "Sure you will," the nurse deadpanned.

    Geoff sighed, ignoring the man's offer of an arm to lean on as he scooted out of his seat, over to the back of the ambulance, leapt down onto the pavement—

    And only barely avoiding going down face first when the world suddenly tilted violently to one side.

    "Congratulations, you proved me wrong," the nurse said, all sarcasm as he grabbed Geoff and perched  him on the gurney. Geoff's attempts at protest were quickly quelled as the nurse easily manhandled him into a lying position and began pushing him inside the emergency room.

    The space they entered was buzzing with activity, people in scrubs and white coats dancing around one another with a kind of stumbling practiced ease. Voices over lapped as medical staff shouted to one another. Nearby a doctor seemed to be arguing heatedly with a man whose arm was wrapped in a bloody t-shirt about the importance of x-rays. Another nurse fussed with a child who, by the sounds of it, had swallowed some kind of family keepsake. Geoff's nurse ignored  all of this, leading him to a quieter room where only a few of the beds were occupied. Parking Geoff and his gurney, the nurse propped up Geoff's bed so he could sit upright and then wandered over to a cabinet of supplies.

    "I came in with someone else," Geoff said as soon as the nurse was back. "A few people, actually. Do you know where they are? Can I see them?"

    "Not until they've been treated," the nurse said. Dipping a piece of cotton into the bottle of liquid he'd fetched, the nurse began cleaning some of the cuts on Geoff's face. Geoff hissed--whatever he was using stung-- but the nurse only rolled his eyes and told Geoff to hold still. As he worked he asked most the same questions the first paramedic had; did his head hurt, was there any pain in his neck or limbs, et cetera. After dragging Geoff out of his shirt and pants the nurse slapped bandages on any cuts or scrapes big enough to warrant it, sealing the smaller ones with a liquid Band-Aid substance that made Geoff's skin feel tight and itchy.

    "Stay put," the nurse said as he handed Geoff an ice pack for an elbow that had recently decided it hurt too. "A nurse will come check on you in a little bit to see if we need to do anything else for that elbow."

    Before Geoff could answer the nurse was gone.

    With a heavy sigh, Geoff settled against this thin, hospital pillow, clutching his icepack to his slowly reddening elbow. _That guy was a dick_ , he thought sullenly. _I’m an injured patient, don’t I deserve a little more respect?_ Geoff’s thoughts flashed to the other injured patients who needed help—Ray, his face battered and bruised, Ryan, pale and unmoving—and he shuddered. There were people here in more need than him.  The last think he wanted was to know that one of them was receiving less treatment just because someone was poking around his harmless cuts and bumps.

    Geoff wallowed in these thoughts for what felt like much longer than twenty minutes before someone finally came in the check on him again. Unlike the previous nurse this one, a young lady with a wild mess of tight brown curls wrestled haphazardly into a pony tail and a sincere, if somewhat timid, smile, introduced herself. Unfortunately Geoff hadn’t noticed her arrival until after that, so he missed the name completely.

    While the nurse  examined Geoff's arm she ambled her way through what she clearly hoped was polite, distracting conversation. There was a sincere desire to make him feel comfortable on her attempts, but her obvious nervousness had her accidentally cutting him off with supportive laughter and changing topics a little too quickly.

    Geoff didn't mind, however. Unlike the last nurse, this one seemed kind and genuinely interested in him. Perhaps she was just the kind of nurse he was looking for. She was nice, friendly—and more than likely willing to help a poor guy like him reconnect with his family. He reached out, catching her hand as she poked and prodded his now throbbing elbow.

    “I’m sorry,” she said quickly, “was that hurting?”

    “No…well, yes, but I was, well, I was hoping I could ask a small favor of you.”

    “A…favor?” the nurse asked. She frowned uncertainly, and Geoff wondered exactly what favor she was expecting him to ask.

    “Yes. I came in here today with some friends of mine, five of them. We were all in the same car accident”—admitting that sent a twitch of panic through him, but he quickly pushed it away—“and I haven’t seen any of them of been told how any of them are, and I was hoping, maybe you could find out how they are for me? Just a small update, anything so that I can at least know they’re alright?”

    “Well, uh, I…” the nurse was really frowning now, as her desire to be helpful fought with whatever rules she’d been taught. “I’ll look into it for you, okay?” she offered. “But umm, right now I think we need to take you for an x-ray of that arm of yours. Let-let me go talk to the doctor, okay?”

    The nurse, smiling goodbyes and clearly flustered, vanished into the thin stream of medical personal moving up and down the hallway outside and Geoff sighed. He didn’t want an x-ray. He wanted to see his boyfriends. Just the thought of the word “x-ray” brought to mind a young man, lying half awake in the back of an ambulance.

    Geoff’s scowl deepened.

    He hoped he heard from his boys soon.

* * *

    Doctor Marianne Jones walked swiftly, following one of her nurses as he filled her in on the basics of why ten car accident victims had just poured into her emergency room. They were on their way to meet one of them now, part of a carload who’d all managed to end up in the hospital. The nurse turned to her as he talked, and Jones couldn’t help but frown at the man’s scruffy face. How many days had he worked recently? He was in desperate need of at least a shave break.

    The paramedic began filling them in on their newest patient’s condition as soon as they arrived around his stretcher.

    “His name’s Michael, mid twenties, the most obvious injuries are a very dislocated shoulder and some chest pain. Feels like he might have a cracked rib or two, and he did complain of some trouble breathing. Most of the blood’s from a cut in his hair,” the paramedics said as Jones’s hands moved to the young man’s blood matted curls. “He’s been fairly response to us, able to talk to us and answer questions, but he is a bit in and out.”

    “Thank you,” Jones said, “We’ll take it from here.” She and her nurse wheeled Michael to an open space in the emergency room, where they were met by a few other nurses as the doctor began inspecting her patient’s injuries.

    “Hello Michael, my name is Dr. Jones. I’m going to be taking care of you this afternoon.” If she wasn’t mistaken, the young man actually laughed at that. Unsure of what was so funny, she ignored him and continued. “I hear your having a bit of chest pain,” Jones said, eyeing the seatbelt-ish bruise across part of the man’s chest. “Can you tell me if this hurts?” She pressed gently around that area, earning hissed curses and a dark scowl for her efforts. “Thank you, sir.”

    Michael continued to frown at her, and she offered him a stoic expression right back as she fished a small light from her pocket.

    “This is likely going to hurt,” she said, “but I need to take a look at your eyes. It’ll just take a minute.” More whispered curses followed as she flashed a light across Michael’s eyes, watching overly large pupils shrink sluggishly away from the brightness. “Thank you, Michael. Now, on a scale of one to ten, how difficult is it to breath?”

    Michael wrinkled his face, shrugging his uninjured shoulder and hissing in pain when it jostled the injured one. Jones frowned at him and Michael sighed. “Like, like a six?” he wheezed. “Like it hurts my lungs.”

    “It might,” Jones said, “You did take quite a blow to the chest. I’m going to have you get some x-rays now, and they can check if there’s anything else making it hard for your to breath. Let the nurses know if it gets any harder to breath, okay?”

    “Yeah, sure,” Michael murmured. Jones patted the young man reassuringly on his shoulder, then turned to the nurse beside her.

    “Keep an eye on his breathing. Something tells me may or may _not_ be the first person to say something, and I don’t want to risk the not. I want x-rays of his shoulder, head, and chest, as well as CT scans of the chest and head for now. If the shoulder looks good then get it put back in, and we’ll decide what to do next based on the scans.” The nurse nodded, then paused and said,

    “There were some others guys with him when they crashed. One of them was asking after the others, I told him once everyone’s treatment was underway we could tell him how everyone was.”

    “I think I can arrange that,” Jones said.

    “Thanks.” The nurse smiled a quick half smile and started to wheel Michael away. “Let’s go take pictures of your insides,” she could hear the nurse saying as he left, followed by what was unmistakably a sigh from Michael.

    Shaking her head, Doctor Jones turned her attention to lapping around the emergency room, looking to see if there were any other car accident victims waiting to be seen. She spoke with two women, a mother and daughter, who’d been in the second of two cars hit by someone who they told her was trying to make the light from the other direction and failed. Nearby she spoke with another doctor who was treating a man with a potentially broken leg that, by the sounds of it, had come from the same car as Michael. Across the room a husband and wife pair, the potential driver and passenger of the impatient car, were being treated for bruises and whiplash.

    Deciding that her emergency room would continue to function for a while without her in it, Jones informed those that needed to know that she was leaving and then retreated from the hustle and bustle of the E.R. to her much calmer office. She dropped into her chair with a heavy sigh, running her hand through her hair as she took a moment to regroup.

    “Okay, Michael,” she sighed, sitting up and resting her fingers on her keyboard. “Let’s find your friends, shall we?”

    Thankfully a dedicated and superiorly organized hospital administrative staff kept the hospital databases not only at a comfortable level of technologically advanced, but also eerily up to date—a fact Jones was reminded of as she pulled up the database containing her emergency room patient roster.  It was already updated with the new patients, and even some information about their current locations and treatments. With a few clicks Jones was able to cross reference the patients based on a handful of criteria, and found match when she pulled up five names who happened to be on the same work-based, group plan insurance that he was.

    Michael, the records showed, was halfway through his x-rays. A Ryan Haywood, the man Jones had just seen in the E.R., was joining him for a leg x-ray of his own. Another gentleman, a Geoffrey Ramsey, was apparently on his way as well for an x-ray of his arm, while the other three had all already filtered back out of radiology and been dispersed to their next stages of treatment. Jack Pattillo and Ray Narvaez were resting in separate, standard ward rooms and Gavin Free was in an exam room getting—Jones clicked the notes by his name—a broken hand splinted.

    Jones frowned at the screen, mind churning as she considered her options. Ryan and Michael would both likely be with doctors for a while yet as the severity of their injuries was assessed. There was no reason Ray and Jack couldn’t be moved to the same room, Jones thought, making a quick note on both men’s digital charts. By the looks of thinks Geoffrey would likely be done soon, and Gavin was being finished with…

    Snatching a clipboard and pen to jot down Gavin Free’s room number, Jones made a few more notes about the men she was attempting to gather, logged off her computer, and hurried off down the hall towards the exam rooms.

    By the time she found Gavin’s room the nurse taking care of him had already left. After pausing at a nearby computer to check that Gavin was done being treated, and that Geoffrey had made it out of radiology and to an exam room, Jones took a deep breath and entered the room.

    Gavin Free looked to be about the same age as Michael, with a sharper, wiry built and hair that looked panicked. A gauze pad was taped to his cheek, and he was holding his splinted hand to his chest. The man looked miserable, although he seemed to try and clear his expression some when he noticed the doctor entering the room.

    “Hello, I’m Dr. Jones,” Jones said, smiling welcomingly rather than trying to shake the man’s injured hand.

    “Gavin Free,” Gavin said. He moved to offer his splinted hand, realized what he was doing, frowned, and sighed.

    “How are you feeling, Gavin?” Jones asked, pulling up a chair and sitting across from the young man.

    “Good,” Gavin offered with a shrug. He frowned again, like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how. Jones could guess.

    “Now, I see here that you came in with some other people,” she said, glancing at her clipboard in a way that suggested it contained more than just her own hand-scribbled notes.

    “I did!” Gavin said, sitting straighter. “Do you know where they are, can I see them?”

    “I do, and not all of them,” Jones said. “Some of them are still being treated. But Mr. Ramsey, Mr. Pattillo, and Mr. Narvaez are all available. I could fill you in on everyone’s conditions now, or we could wait until I have the four of you together, which ever you would prefer.”

    The young man’s brow furrowed, his lips pressed tight together as he considered his options.

    “I’ll wait,” he finally decided. “How long until I can see everyone?”

    “Follow me.”

    Gavin simply blinked at her, although once she started for the door he hurried after her. He matched her rapid pace easily, clearly excited to see the others.

    “So, Mr. Free, where are you from?” Gavin frowned at her for a moment before her question fully registered.

    “Oh, uh, England,” he said. “But I live here now for work.”

    “I have family in England,” Jones offered conversationally. She knew it wasn’t the conversation Gavin most wanted to have, but as they discussed different areas of England and whether or not she’d been, she could see it was at least helping distract the young man for a little bit.

* * *

    Geoff scowled at the overly polished linoleum floor of the small exam room. After his x-ray he’d been informed that he’d badly sprained his elbow and would need to wear a splint for a couple weeks while it healed. The splint turned out to be a contraption of steel and Velcro that made Geoff feel like he was a step away from replacing his joint with a robot arm. And it itched.

    On top of that, he’d asked _three_ different nurses about seeing his boyfriends, and every last one of them had given him the same vague answer his first nurse had, about treatments and blah, blah, blah. And now they’d abandoned him in this stupid little room. If he didn’t have any more answers in about ten minutes, Geoff was ready to just search the hospital for his boys himself.

    A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts. Trying to hide his frown, Geoff prepared to sweetly ask his new nurse to find his goddamned boyfriends right this fucking minute—

    “Geoff!”

    “Gavin?”

    Geoff stared in surprise as the familiar Brit darted towards him, hesitating briefly has he considered their two splints before figuring out how to wrap his older boyfriend in a tight hug.

    “Oh, thank God,” Geoff breathed, burying his face in Gavin’s familiar wild hair. “You’re okay, you’re okay,” he whispered, “thank God, you’re okay.” Gavin just nodded into his chest, his shoulders shaking lightly as he struggled not to burst into tears.

    “Mr. Ramsey,” an unfamiliar said gently. Looking over Gavin’s hair, Geoff spotted for the first time the doctor standing across the room. She looked like she was his age, maybe younger, with hair pulled back in a loose bun and large, thin-rimmed glasses. Geoff had to clear his throat twice before he could answer.

    “Yes?”

    “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to take you to see some of your other friends.”

    It felt like all the air left Geoff in a single _woosh_. He stared at the doctor for what felt like a long time before he finally managed a small,

    “Yeah. Yeah, that would be good.”

* * *

    Jack was awoken from a shallow, uncomfortable sleep by the sound of two nurses quietly bickering about sports teams as they maneuvered one of the beds out the door. Sighing, Jack began to stretch, only to be reminded that his arm felt stiff because it was trapped in a thick bandage. His heart started to hammer as he remembered why he was here and he took a few deep breaths, glancing around his still empty room.

    After x-raying him and informing him that he had a broken wrist, Jack’s doctor had given him a long, rambling lecture about whiplash and bruised ribs and bed rest and other things that Jack had ended up tuning out without even meaning to. He knew his chest hurt, and he knew his neck hurt, and he knew his wrist hurt, and he really did want to know more about those things, but his doctor had been so…

    Lame. Boring. So typical-old-man-in-a-white-coat.

    Eventually the man’s rambling had ceased, and Jack had found himself in room with four beds, all empty except for his own. Unfortunately, because he’d stopped listening, he wasn’t sure how long he would be here. And because his requests for information had been repeatedly deflected, he no idea when he might see his boyfriends again, either.

    Maybe that’s why those guys moving that bed annoyed him so much. Because he was tired, he was hurting, he was confused, and he was worried out of his ever loving mind.

    However, there was little for Jack to do but frown disapprovingly at the ceiling, which he did with gusto even as another bed, which was apparently carrying a patient, was rolled into the room with him.

The nurses mumbled a few things to Jack’s new neighbor and then left. They didn’t even bother to pull to curtain between Jack and the occupied bed. Jack’s frown deepened. The last thing he needed was someone who wanted to chit chat with him about—

    “…Jack?”

    Jack jerked his head to the side, wincing when the sudden movement sent a jolt of pain through his injured neck.

    “Whoa, hey, no need to hurt yourself on my account.”

    His voice was weak, but Jack could still practically hear the boy’s smirk. Opening eyes he hadn’t realized he’d closed, Jack grinned and the pair of dark eyes watching him from under raised hospital-bed railings.

    “Hey, Jack,” Ray breathed, returning the grin. “How you feeling?”

    “Better.” Jack’s whole body seemed to relax at the sight of his bruised but smiling boyfriend. “It’s good to see you.”

    “You too.” For awhile the pair just held one another’s gaze, reveling in finally seeing one another again. But they both knew the question eating away at both of them, and eventually one of them was going to have to ask it.

    “So,” Ray whispered. “Have you seen anyone else?”

    “Just you,” Jack said softly.

    “Hmm.” Jack watched as thoughts flitted across Ray’s face. Just as the young man seemed to settle on one to voice there was a knock on the door.

    “Expecting someone?” Ray half joked as the door swung open and two very familiar faces burst into the room.

    “Speak of the devil,” Jack laughed as Gavin bolted for Ray, doing another awkward dance as he tried to figure out how to hug the other man without disturbing the bandages around his shoulder. He settled on a kind of leaning half hug, which got his cheek close enough to Ray’s lips for a kiss.

    “Didn’t think you could hide from us forever, did you?” Geoff teased, giving Jack’s hand a squeeze.

    “It was worth a try,” Jack sighed, still grinning. Matching the smile, Geoff hooked a nearby chair with his ankle, tugging it over to sit between Jack and Ray’s beds. Gavin forwent the chair Doctor Jones offered him, simply perching himself on Ray’s bed, much to the younger man’s overly exaggerated disdain.

    Once everyone was settled, with beds propped up and buts in their seats, Jones grabbed a chair of her own and sat down across from the quartet of men. She introduced herself, letting them know that she’d seen Michael when he’d first come and that she’d spoken some with Ryan’s doctor and, if they wanted, she could just fill them in on those two and leave them to compare there one injuries themselves. She received a series of nods.

    “Alright then,” she said. “Michael first. His shoulder was dislocated, and he appears to have a few cracked ribs as well as a large cut on the side of his head. I’ve sent him for x-rays on all three things to make sure there are no other more serious injuries that we can’t see. He was awake and talking to me, which is a good sign, and based on his condition so far I’m not expecting anything more serious although, again, the scans will be able to tell us more.

    “Mr. Haywood has also been sent for x-rays on his leg and abdomen. His doctor believes that he’s suffered a fracture of his right femur. The severity of the fracture will determine what treatment options he has, and, as is the case for both men, we’ll know more about how best to proceed with both of them once their scans come back.”

    “How long will that take?” Jack asked.

    “Not long. They should be ready when I get back to my office.”

    “And that will be…?” Geoff asked.

    “As soon as I’m finished here,” Jones finished. “Do you four have any more questions, either about your friends or yourselves? I know you’ve received a lot of information in a short amount of time and I wouldn’t want any of you forgetting about your selves while you worry about each other.”

    “I think we’re okay,” Geoff said, glancing at the others to make sure he wasn’t speaking for anyone who didn’t agree. Only quiet nods met his words and so, with a “I’ll be in touch,” Doctor Jones left them to one another’s company.

   "So," Jack said, looking Geoff up and down. His gaze stopped on the man's splint. "How's everyone else?"

    "Tired," Gavin whined. No that the doctor was gone he was attempting to lie down in Ray's bed with him. Ray scowled and complained, but he also scooted over as much as he could to let the other man in.

    "Mhmm," Ray agreed once they were both comfy. Lying the way they were, their uninjured arms were in the middle. Gavin quickly tucked his under Ray's neck, snuggling against the other man. Tucked together, it wasn't long before both young men were snoring softly.

    "Maybe we should do the same?"

    "I'm not getting in there with you," Geoff said, frowning. Jack laughed, squeezing Geoff's hand.

    "As long as you're comfortable in the chair."

    "I'll manage."

    Jack tried to stay awake for a while, wanting to talk to Geoff, but it wasn't long before he'd joined the boys in la-la land. Smiling, Geoff leaned back in his chair, his hand still caught in Jack's grip. Looking over his sleeping boyfriends, he allowed himself a small sigh. 

    Half his family was back to him. Now he just needed the rest.

* * *

    A gentle shake of his shoulder woke him.

    "Mr. Ramsey?"

    "Hmm, what?" Geoff mumbled, blinking sleep from his eyes. He'd fallen asleep in his chair, draped over Jack's bed. He groaned, back popping as he straightened. "Yes?" he asked when he spotted Doctor Jones standing over him.

    "I got your note," she deadpanned. She held up a piece of hospital letterhead. It was crumpled on one corner from where Geoff had crammed d it under the number plate on the door. It said 'please disturb' in Geoff's untidy scrawl.

    "Thanks," Geoff murmured, glad she'd understood his meaning. The doctor glanced at the rest of the room's sleeping inhabitants but Geoff shook his head, motioning for them to step into the hall. "So, what's the news?"

    "I've looked over Michael's x-rays. He does have two cracked ribs, and the lung beneath them is slightly bruised. It's nothing too severe, but I would like to keep him here for a few days just to monitor it. His shoulder was dislocated but there was no other damage, so we were able to get that back where it belongs and in a sling. He does have a concussion, but so do half of you, and based on the x-rays and CT scan there's no further damage from that to worry about."

    Geoff released a heavy breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

    "And Ryan?"

     "I just spoke with his doctor. The leg is fractured, and after having his options explained to him, Mr. Haywood has opted to have surgery on it. He'll have a steel rod placed in the bone to help support it and speed up the healing process. He's being prepared for that as we speak."

    "So, they'll be okay?"

    Jones smiled the kind of reassuring smile Geoff had waited all day to see.

    "You're all going to be okay." She gave Geoff a moment to quietly revel in her words, and then asked, "Michael's allowed visitors, if you want to see him."

    "Yes," Geoff said quickly, and then, "Yes, please."

    "Follow me."

    Doctor Jones lead him along a winding path that he never would have managed on his own, up elevators and through sets of double doors, until they were standing outside a small room whose sign advertised a single occupancy.

    "He's hooked up to a few machines, and all the lines and wires might look a bit startling, but they're mostly basic monitors and oxygen. Nothing to worry about." Geoff nodded mutely, and when he gave her a look filled with uncertainty she motioned encouragingly to the door. "I'll wait out here for you."

    "Thank you," Geoff whispered.

    Inside the room was dark, the blinds drawn tight. The only light came from a small lamp in the room's far corner. Two chairs and a small table flanked the large hospital bed that filled most of the room. Lying in the middle of it, Michael looked oddly small. The doctor hadn't been kidding about all the wires. A dozen of them poked out from all around the bed, while an oxygen mask covered half of Michael's face.

    Geoff leaned back, scrubbing a hand hard over his face. Sure, the doctor had said he would be fine, but seeing him like this...

    He perched on one of chairs by the bed, eyeing the IV in Michael's hand before settling on holding the young man’s fingers.

    “Hey, Michael,” he whispered. “Damn, it’s good to see you.”

    “…Geoff?”

    “Michael?” Geoff leaned over the young man as tired eyes fluttered open, searching uncertainly before finding his boyfriend. “Hey, buddy,” Geoff said, giving what he was sure was the goofiest of smiles. “How are you feeling?”

    “Fucking…great,” Michael breathed. Geoff laughed, giving the young man’s fingers a squeeze. Michael’s brow furrowed slowly, his eyes narrowing. “Look…like shit,” he mumbled.

    “You should see yourself,” Geoff said. He was ninety percent sure Michael rolled his eyes at him.

    “Wh-what happened?”

    “You don’t remember?” Geoff asked. Michael shook his head slightly. “We were in a car accident. You got pretty banged up.”

    “Oh,” Michael sighed. “You okay?”

    “I’m fine,” Geoff said, nodding. “Way better than you.” Michael frowned at him again, but seemed to accept the answer because his eyes started to drift closed. They open a moment later though, snapping back to Geoff.

    “The—everyone? What—?”

    “They guys are all okay,” Geoff assured him. “You’re probably the worst off, except for maybe Ryan. He broke his leg,” he added quickly when Michael’s eyes went wide. “They’re taking care of it now.”

    “Oh. Good.” Michael made an odd, breathy sound that Geoff thought might have been a laugh. Although, why he was laughing was a mystery. “Makes…sense,” Michael murmured.

    “What makes sense?”

    “Ryan…leg,” Michael whispered. “…theater degree.” Michael made another breathy laughing sound and Geoff sighed.

    “Well you’re obviously feeling better.”

    “You…love me.”

    “You know I do,” Geoff said. “Now how about you focus on resting and feeling better. Get some sleep, and tomorrow I’ll drag all the guys down here to see you.”

    “Even…Ryan?” Michael asked, eyes alight.

    “Go to bed, you.”

    “Love you,” Michael whispered.

    “Love you too.”

    Back in the hallway Geoff ran his good hand through his hair. Doctor Jones caught his eye, flashing him a small smile. He returned it, all exhaustion, sore muscles, and more thankfulness than he could possibly communicate. Jones nodded once, as if she could tell what he was thinking and wanted him to know he didn’t need to worry about finding the right words.

    “Let’s get you back to the others, shall we?” she said. Geoff just nodded, and allowed the woman to lead him back down the hall.

    Back in Ray and Jack’s room Doctor Jones informed them that, while Geoff and Gavin hadn’t properly been discharged yet, she recommended that they head home for the night and get some sleep (as the alternative was being stuck in a bed that might not be in with their friends, and would definitely not be somewhere where they would be able to get a full night’s uninterrupted sleep). The pair had been ready to argue to avoid separation from one another again, but a sleepy Jack had chosen that moment to join the conversation. With a few short words and a stern look he sent the pair on their way, with promises to see them both in the morning.

    Out in the hall once more, Geoff was just beginning to realize that he had absolutely no plans for how to get home with Jones said,

    “Your friends arrived a little bit ago, and they’re ready for you in the waiting room. If you want to go meet them I can have one of the nurses at the desk take care of your discharge paperwork.”

    “Friends?” Gavin asked, followed by Geoff’s,

    “Uh, yeah, sure. That would be great.” Jones lead them to the waiting room, where they were quickly ambushed by the frazzled looking pair of Burnie and Ashley. Ashley practiced her own version of Gavin’s hug-dance as she tried to figure out how to great the injured men, while Burnie offered Geoff a much simpler squeeze of the shoulder.

    “How is everyone?” he asked.

    “Alive,” Geoff said, glancing over to where Doctor Jones was speaking to the nurse behind a long, high desk. “Let’s get out of here and I’ll fill you in once we’re in the car.”

    “You got it,” Burnie said. He stuck with Geoff as the man got himself and Gavin freed from the hospital, while Ashley chatted quietly with a suddenly very exhausted looking Gavin. Once Geoff was holding everything he needed to get him home he turned to Burnie, who offered him a supportive smile as he said, “Let’s get you home.”

    They were four of the sweetest words Geoff had heard all night.

* * *

    Geoff was surprised, but not disappointed, when they finally got home and Burnie and Ashley revealed the small suitcase they’d brought with them. Between himself and Gavin, the both of them crippled, Geoff had no doubt they would likely have injured themselves even more between now and tomorrow morning if left to their own devices. Geoff tried briefly to help the couple get set up in their guest room, until Ashley shooed him out and corralled both him and Gavin into their own bedroom.

    “Go to bed,” she’d commanded, nudging them towards their oversized mattress and its invitingly soft blankets after spending half an hour taking them through the home treatment paperwork they’d been given and making sure that everyone had been stretched, medicated, or checked accordingly. “We’ll take you guys over to the hospital in the morning to see the guys.”

    “Thanks,” Gavin mumbled, already half out of his clothes as he burrowed into the bedding.

    “Thank you,” Geoff agreed, trying to show in his gaze every ounce of gratitude he felt for his friends at that moment. He was pretty sure he just came off looking a little drugged up and a lot tired, but Ashley’s smile suggested she understood what he was trying to get at.

    “See you in the morning,” she said, and left the pair to get comfortable and get some rest.

    The morning had brought with it a lot of stiffness and discomfort, but also a pile of pancakes that Burnie had prepared while Geoff and Gavin slept in, so it kind of balanced out. When the pair joined their friends-turned-caretakers at the kitchen table it was to find them sitting amongst all of their hospital paperwork, making sure they knew exactly how to care for their injured friends.

    “You guys really don’t have to do all of that,” Geoff said, reaching for the paper in Burnie’s hand as he took his seat.

    “Mhmm,” Burnie replied, pulling the paper out of reach without even looking at his friend.

    “You really don’t,” Gavin agreed sheepishly.  “I don’t think we’re going to, like, keel over or anything just because we’re left alone.”

    “You guys realize you work at the same place as me, right?”Burnie asked, lowering his paper. “I’ve seen how the lot of you manage together when you’re all perfectly healthy, I’m not about to leave you alone when you’re not.”

    Geoff narrowed his eyes, disgruntled to realize he could not argue that logic. Instead he pouted into his breakfast, scowling as he forked down his overly syruped stack of pancakes. Ashley and Gavin both took large swigs of orange juice to hide their grins, while Burnie, still straight faced, returned to his reading.

    They finished breakfast in a companionable silence, after which the atmosphere in the house became much louder as Geoff and Gavin hovered at the front door, impatiently waiting to get on their way to the hospital. Burnie pulled a face at them as he came over with his keys.

    “You guys look like dogs waiting to be walked,” he informed them.

    “What can I say, we like car rides,” Geoff said with a shrug. Burnie’s eyes rolled as he shooed them out the door and into the car. It was a short ride to the hospital, where a friendly woman at the front desk reminded Geoff and Gavin how to get to their boyfriends’ room. After bidding their friends a hasty goodbye, the two men darted off down a white hallway and into the bowels of the hospital. They got lost twice before a harried looking nurse, after seeing them pass her twice before, finally took pity and got them turned in the right direction.

    As they approached the familiar room it was to hear the sound of laughter, along with a deep, sarcastic, “You’re a comedian.” They entered to find that Ryan and Michael had made their way into the room during the night, all four beds now filled with an achievement hunter. Judging by the fact that Ryan was the one rolling his eyes, and the way he flipped his blanket over his bandaged swathed leg, Michael had felt the need to share his theater joke from the night before with a fresh audience.

    “You all seem like you’re feeling better,” Geoff said, grinning as he pushed into the room. Four excited voices welcomed their missing pair, hugs being passed around the room before Geoff and Gavin settled in.

    Together they discussed how one another was feeling, what had happened to who over the past twenty-eight hours, and who remembered what about what happened to bring them here. They fussed over one another’s injuries, debated details, harassed any doctor or nurse who stopped by with questions and worry, and spent the day being generally loud and obnoxious. Happiness floated in their voices, even the nurses who had to stop in and shush them were smiling. But hidden deep in all of the men’s eyes was the shadow of the fear they’d been forced to carry since the day before, back when they knew they were in pain and alone and no one could give them any straight answers about what was happening to themselves or anyone else.

    Geoff and Gavin spent the entire day at the hospital. Burnie and Ashley even came around at noon with paper sacks full of burgers and fries so they didn’t have to leave for food. As the day progressed first Jack and then Ray earned their bill of clean health. The group’s presence in the room shrank to one side as their beds were prepared for whatever new unfortunate guest would be forced to share a room with the Achievement Hunter clan.

    When visiting hours came to an end a chaotic and thorough round of hugs were exchanged (Ryan and Michael air high-fived from their beds to complete the love chain) and then four of the men shuffled back to the waiting room and the couple that would take them home.

    _Four down_ , Geoff thought as Burnie helped load the tired Hunters into his truck, _Two to go._

* * *

    It was a fortunately short amount of time before Michael and Ryan were both discharged, thankfully at the same time. Unsure of who would be let free first, and neither wanting to abandon the other to a lonely night at the hospital, the pair had worked hard to try and convince the nursing staff that they were healing at the exact same rate. This translated basically into Michael developing a ‘cough’ when Ryan’s nurse hinted at a slow healing incision, and Ryan’s stitches suddenly feeling itchy or painful when Michael’s doctor frowned as she listened to the younger man’s chest.

    It didn’t take the medical staff long to catch on to the pair’s game and, lead by the saintly patience of Doctor Jones, they simply agreed to match-up the pair’s release (without telling them, because watching the two men exchange frantic looks as they tried to make up symptoms was too funny to put an end to).

    But, eventually, they were being lead out of the hospital and towards the chariot of a truck that would finally, _finally_ , take them home.

    The group spent the next week stumbling over one another as they itched casts and tugged on slings, impatient to get healed and back to work. Burnie and Ashley had lingered around the house as long as they could before Jack had managed to shoo them out, stern warnings that they be called if _anything_ happened trailing them out the door. The group ended up calling a few times, mostly when they realized that Burnie and Ashley were the only ones who’d bothered to read up on their aftercare, but for the most part the group was managing just fine on their own.

    It was a Sunday night now, and the group was feeling ready to get back to work. Their injuries had healed enough for them to spend three days straight playing videogames, and they were getting stir-crazy cooped up in their home for so long. They’d decided to spend their last night of time off rotating through a selection of simple games, the men stumbling their ways into the living room. Ryan was already waiting for the group, Jack having perched him on the edge of the couch. They’d decided to use their small coffee table as a prop for the man’s injured leg, as they suddenly realized they didn’t have a foot rest between them and Ryan was tired of having his leg tripped over.

    Michael and Gavin soon joined him, the later clambering over the back of the couch. He groaned as he slipped and fell on his bad arm, earning a laugh from Michael. The pair had chosen the night’s entertainment, which they proudly showed the older man as Michael loaded the first game.

    “Starting without us, I see,” Ray said as he slipped over the armrest, scooping a controller off the coffee table.

    “First game!” Gavin cried, grabbing another controller.

    “Hey, watch it.” Ryan shoved Gavin back when he got a little too close to the older man’s injured leg. Gavin smiled apologetically and handed Ryan one of the controllers as a peace offering.

    “First game’s only four person,” Michael explained as he took a controller and joined the group on the couch.

    “Of course it is,” Geoff sighed, wandering in with a very large bowl of popcorn. He wedged himself gracelessly between Michael and Ray, which squeezed Gavin off the couch and onto the floor.

    “Aw, Geoff!” Gavin whined, pouting. “Oh, popcorn!” Three hands appeared instantly in the bowl and Geoff sighed.

    “Vultures,” he muttered as the lads crammed their mouths in unison.

    “They’re growing boys, Geoff,” Jack joked as he lowed himself down beside Gavin. The Brit did a double take, then offered Jack some of his half-eaten handful of popcorn. “Uh, no…thank you.” The others laughed as Gavin shrugged and finished his snack. Behind him Michael began explaining the game they were playing, and Geoff settled in to watch.

    As he sat among his boyfriends, nestled between warm, healthy bodies and listening to his five most favorite of voices, Geoff finally allowed himself the kind of relived sigh he hadn’t been able to have in over a week. _Six down_ , he thought to himself. They were home.

    They were all, _finally_ , home.


End file.
